I may have the numbers off a little but I believe that on a jacks or better machine you will hit a royal about every 36,000 hands. At about 600 hands per hour that means you should hit one royal for every 60 hours of play. Of course if you play the 100 hand version it should come faster. Also of course it means that the odds are only 2:1 against you hitting one after 120 hours of play. I don't play a lot of VP and Cindy never plays unless REALLY bored. She has hit one royal and I have never hit one. If you are going to play make sure that it is a 6/9 machine or you are just throwing your money away. Even a 6/9 machine is only positive expectation when you add in the comps from the casino and then it is break even most times. Of course you can build up some good will pretty quick. My son in law played at a Harrahs property a few months ago for 6 hours, earned a platimun card and has been getting free rooms all over the country ever since.